Required summer reading can be tasking.  When I first picked up a copy of Unbroken, this year’s Langley Read, the first thing that struck me was its size. The story itself was 398 pages, and that didn’t even include the preface or acknowledgements.

But once I started reading, I realized that I had misjudged the book by its cover. It flew by much quicker than I had thought and despite my apprehensions about reading a large, non-fiction book, it proved to be extremely fascinating and moving.

In short, Unbroken was a story about Louie Zamperini, a juvenile delinquent who later was drafted into the US military during WWII.  He served in the Air Force and was in charge of aiming bombs to be dropped. After several dangerous but successful raids, Zamperini’s luck ran out, and his plane crashed over the Pacific. He and two other crew members drifted on a raft in the ocean for many weeks before finally coming to land – and into the clutches of Japanese captors. Held as a POW, (prisoner of war)  Zamperini was deprived of food, water, clothing and shelter. Often times Japanese officers beat him and forced him to shovel feces with his bare hands.

Author Laura Hillenbrand did a wonderful job depicting Zamperini’s odyssey in the Pacific Ocean and his time as a POW through haunting descriptions.  I was completely aghast at all the horrible things that had happened to Zamperini, and shocked at how he was able to endure all of it without ever losing hope- hence the title, Unbroken.
Since Unbroken was only released last November, it has not yet made its way into the Sparknote’s library. While this might be a concern to some students, you shouldn’t despair. Unbroken  is a thrilling read; the suspense of finding out whether Zamperini survives in the end makes the book go by quickly.